Bendable inclosing casing.



A. E. WOODHOUSE.

BENDABLE INGLOSING CASING.

APPLIOATION FILED 11mm 1910.

1 Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

,aa 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

fiy j 7 1 m k 5; 5/ 8:

WITNESSES. INVENTOR .1 m 1 0 fi/berifiwesiWoodizoz/se I R i k FTTORNEYS- A. E. WOODHOU SE. BENDABLE INGLOSING CASING.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 7, 1910.

1,035,93 1 P en ed Aug.2 ,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. 6f. ii X7?! 0 m uvm wuv I N v E N TbR /7 lbs rii E W165i 3447061726056 HTTORA/EYS WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

ALBERTAERNEST woonrlousn, or KINeswAY, LONDON, ENGLAND.

' BENDABLE INGLOSING CASING.

Specification of Letters'Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 191 2.

, Application fi1ed March- 7, 1910. Serial No. 542,650.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, ALBERT ERNEST Woon- HOUSE, a subject of the King of ,Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Kingsway, in the county of London, England, have invented a Bendable Inclosing Casing, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to inclosing casings, suitable for example for electrical wiring systems of the kind in which the casing with its cover for the conductors are connected and bonded in a manner such as is described in the specification of my British Letters Patent No. 6010 of 1906, and it has for its primary object to provide improved constructions of casing and cover that will enable sections thereof to be readily bent when required and connected up atcurves and angles as may be found necessary, with-' out resort to special mechanism during erection.

To render the casing bendable, the trough and cover co prising the casing can each be corrugate transversely, preferably with V shaped corrugations, the corrugations being made in the sides and across the bottom of the trough and in a similar manner across the cover. In some cases it is found advantageous not to carry the crests and hollows of the corrugations continuously around the trough or cover, but to arrange the crests and hollows on the sides in line with hollows and crests respectively on the bottom or top, as the case may be, in a similar manner to the method used in making camera bellows. 'Or the flexible casing may comthe outer trough.

To attain the second object of the invention, a hollow box-like base'or terminal fitting is formed with one or more-apertures in which or each ofwhich is fixed a joint clipor housing,"into which and the aperture in the base or fitting, the-end of "a casing is forced, the cover of the end port-ion of the casing being also forced into the aperture, which is shaped to receive it, and over the joint clip or housing. The cover of the; box-like base or fitting may conveniently be locked in position by any convenient means;

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in plan and F ig. 2 partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section on the line Av A of Fig. 1, a corru gated form of trough with corrugated cover therefor, and Figs. 3 and 4 are views illus- 'trating .such a trough and cover bent in different directions, F ig, 3 showing the casing bent in its own plane and Fig. 5' show- .ing it bent in a direction at right angles to that shown in Fig; 3. Fig. 5 shows in plan, and Fig. 6 in front elevation with part of the cover removed, a'modifiedform of bend able'trough and cover connected to a nonbendable section of easing. Fig.'7 represents 1part of the bendable trou h ofFig.5,

to a rger scale, after it has enbent in its'oWn plane. 8 is a view, partly'in section and also to 'a largerscale, of part.

of thetrough and cover bent in a direction at right angles to the direction shown in Fig. 7. Figs. 9 'andIlO- are outlines of stampings used in the manufacture of the trough or cover shown in F igs, 5 to8- inclusive. Figs. 11' and 12 are plan. views, showing modified constructions of trough or cover stampin -gs. -Fig. 13 is across section of the casing.

Referring to the example shown in Figs. 1 tol, a is the trough portion ofthe cas-. ing and b thejcover portion thereof adapted to be sprung over, the trough portion, each portion being made of corrugated form with plain end portions. The corrugations 0 are preferably of Itshape, and are shown as normally extending transversely of the trough and cover. In order that the'cover' b, may be capable of; widenin out when used for sharp angles and ben s, it is preferred 'to slit it down the center, as shown at d, and close the slit by a close fitting similarly corrugated strip 6 secured to" the inner sideof the cover, prefe'rablyby rivets f at each end of the cover. Sometimes two arallel non-continuous slits may be formed in the cover, asindicatedin dotted lines at d each. slit in each line of slits being contiguous to the solid portions ofthe cover between the slits in the other line of slits.. The said corrugated trough a and cover I; can be separately or collectively bent by the hands to the curve or angle desired within verse to the lengthof the trough and cover,

as shown, but may make a slight angle therewith. Sometimes it is preferred to anneal this corrugated troughing after manufacture to make it bend more easil l5 The construction of bend able casing shown in Figs. 1 to 4 is suitable for use in damp.

places as well as for ordinary dry situations.

lln the example according to Figs. 5 to 8,

29 the bendable. trough and cover are each formed of two stampings g and h of flat strip metal, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the

stamping 9 being notched at i to form a.

series of tongues 71: and the stamping h be- 25 ing similarly notched at 2' to form a series I of tongues 70 that are longer than the tongues 7c. The arrangement is -such that the stampings can be superposed and bent into the trough shape shownin Figs. 5 to Q .8, and the outer end portions of the longer tongues 70 on the outer stampin'gih bent over the outer ends of the tongues 70 of the inner stamping g as shown. When two trough shaped stampings g and It only are used, the tongues k at'the opposite sides of the outer trough orstamping h may-be made with small projecting lugs k one formed on each edge near the extremity. The outerextremities of the tongues is on the inner trough or stamping g extend to the region of the small. lugs .70 on the outer tongues k where they are themselves provided with small extending lugs 70 equal in length to the width oi? the lugs 70 on the outer tongues 76?. The extremities W of the outer tongues Zc loeyDnd the lugs k are folded over the inner tongues ic sufiiciently closely to permit oil a close sliding fit be tween the inner "and outer tongues As 59 shown, the lugs t or each outer tongue [t of the stamping h are arranged to projectinwardly emlorace two adjoining corner lugs is of two inner tongues is or the g. The effect of this construction is the bending limit, certain directio-ns, isreaehed when the lugs it and 70 on the inner andouter tongues it and I come into contact, such contact preventing the "rou i a or gaps to; appear in the sides jb t gn m tongues or the inner and outer he compound trough is ioent sioewise "n b ing bent to such an angle as would I the side'in compression, come into contact.

Similarly, when bending forwardly, as. in Fig. 8, the bending limit is reached when the adjoining'edges of the inner tongues and alsov the adjoining edges of the outer tongues, of the side in compression, come into contact and when the inner and outer lugs and 72 of the side in tension come into contact. The outer edges of the tongues 70 between the lugs 70 are preferably made of convex shape as shown. Any convenient limiting means, other than the lugs 70 is, may be provided on the tongues. The two stampings g and h composing each trough and cover may be secured together, at the longitudinal center line,by rivetsm (Fig. 6). Sometimes the tongues 76, is? forming the casing and cover maybe formed of a number of separate pieces of sheet metal suitably shaped, assembled and jointed toform inefiect flexible troughs arranged one inside the other. Fig.'11 shows one example of this kind wherein an inner set of pieces of sheet metal to form the tongues 72 are formed with connecting lugs m by means of which and pins m they are jointed together and to an outer set of separate pieces of-sheet metal to form the tongues 76 the tongues in eachset overlapping the gaps between the tongues in the other set, the tongues being then bent to the desired trough shape. The cover may be made in a similar manner.

Fig. 12 shows another example in which the inner pieces of sheet metal to form the tongues is are jointed by pins m to the outer pieces of sheet metal forming the tongues 70 but not directly to each other.

Each form olcasing is preferably made withplain end portions 0 for bonding and fitting closely into jointing clips such as described in my said former British specification No. 6010 of 1906, but the methods of making the flexible or bendable casing herein described are not confined to any particular section of easing. In Fig. 6 the hendable section is shown connected to a non-bendable section 32 by means of a spring clip g of the said known ,ltind, theeover of both sections being sprung over the clip in. the manner described. in the said former specification.

- in some cases the adjacent surfaces of the superposed metal stampings g and it may be tinned so that after the casings have been bent into the required shape, the applica- 'tion of heat thereto will sweat the stampings together and render the casing r gid and,it may he, more damp proofr "instead of bending tongues foil the outentrough over the tongues of theinnertrough, as in the examples shown, the

tongues of the inner trough may he lengthened and hent over those of the outer trough.

, intranet" Sections of described can be used for connecting in at angles and bends, rigid casings and covers such as described in the said former British specification No. 6010 of 1906. a I

What l claimv is:

1. An inclosing casing of the character described, comprising a trough and a trough-like cover therefor, the said trough and cover, for the purpose of enabling the casing to-be readily bent, belng lndented at the contiguous edges and sides.

' 2. An inclosing casing of the character described, comprising a trough having the edges and sides indented to permit such trough to expand readily at one side and to contract freely at the other side when bent, and a detachable trough-like cover similarly indented to expand at one side and contract at. the other side When bent with the trough to Which it is connected.

3. An inclosing casing of the character dsc'ribe'd, comprising a trough having the edges and sides indented to permit such "trough to expand readily along its ed es when bent, and a detachable trough-like cover similarly indented to contract along its edges When bent With the trough to.

' edges of the narrower stamping.

which it is connected 4. An inclosing casing of the character described, comprising a trough having the edges and sides indented to permit the i trough to contract readily along its edges when bent and a detachable trough-like cover thereto-r similarly indented to expand along its edges When bent with the trough ,to" which it is connected.

5. An inciosing casingot the character described, comprising stampings superposed to produce a trough having a transversely notched bottom containing a, neutral axis and notched sides substantially perpendicular to thebottom that are adapted to expand or contract When the casing is bent in any direction. r v

'6. An inclosing casing of the character described, comprising stampings superposed to produce trough having a bottom containin'g a nentralfiaxisand edges substancasings and covers oi I tially perpendicular to the bottom that are adapted to expand or contract alternatively. and means formed on said stampings.

adapted to limit the extent of the expansion or contraction of the trough edges 'Z. An inclosing casing of "the character described, comprising superposed stampings each having plain end portions and an intermediate transversely notched portion, the

having plain end portions, the superposition of the stampings eing such that the material which constitutes tongues between the notches of one stamping masks the notches of an adjacent stamping;

9. In an inclosing casing of the character described, a trough -comprising a stamping having notched edges, a second stamping 0t narrower Width also having notched edges, one stamping being placed upon the other stamping so that the notches of both are staggered, and the notched edges of the Wider stamping turned over the notched 10. In an inclosing casmg of the charac-' ter described, a trough comprising a stamping having notched edges constituting tongues, lugs projecting late'rallytrom the tongues intermediate of their length, a sec end stamping of narrower Width having notched edges constituting shorter tongues,

and lugs onthe extremitiesof said shorter tongues, the narrower stamping being placed against; the other stamping so that the tongues of one cover the notches between the tongues of the, other, and the tongues and lugs of-the Wider stamping turned over the tongues and'lugs of the narrower stamping.

Signed at London England this 21st day of February 1910,

\Vitnesses': 7

F. BINGHAM, W. Pnmonn,

'ALBERT ramsrwoonnonsr. i 

